[nagdu] My Experience of Having My Dog Taken Away

[Sheila Leigland]

I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I saw soneone's dog 
removed a year ago and It was traumatic for me and it wasn't even my 
dog. I watched my dog so closely that I think it made him nervous. for 
the first time i was afraid that someone would take Tres from me. I 
never want to see it happen to anoother handler.

On 8/19/2015 6:36 PM, S L Johnson via nagdu wrote:
> Marion:
>
> I’m sending this both to you and the list.  I have nothing to hide.  I don’t
> mind everyone knowing the trauma I went through.  I am proud that despite
> this horrible beginning, forty years later, I am still a proud guide dog
> owner with a wonderful golden by my side.  Please feel free to keep my
> story.  I hope it helps prove our point that we need complete unconditional
> ownership.
>
> The incident was in 1976 with The Guide Dog Foundation.  I had graduated
> with Hogan, a male golden, in August 1976.  John Byfield had trained Hogan
> and on class I informed him that the dog pulled much too hard and walked
> much too fast.  He said it was my job to keep up with him so, I tried my
> best and graduated with him.  I don’t remember the exact day but, it was
> just before Christmas 1976 when a trainer showed up at my college dorm to
> take Hogan.  The reason given was my frequent falls due to multiple
> sclerosis.  My medical condition had nothing to do with me falling down
> curbs and stairs.  Hogan had the bad habit of walking very fast right up to
> the curb or steps without any slowing in pace to let me know a curb or step
> was coming.  This sudden stop  caused me to lose my balance and fall.  John
> Beagel and Barry Hatten had both been working with us a lot and Hogan was
> getting much better and I felt confident with our progress.  Suddenly one
> day during my very busy holiday performance schedule, I  returned to hear
> that Barry had been looking for me.  I was not warned of his visit so wasn’t
> there at the time.  I didn’t hear anything else until two days later when
> John Beagel showed up and informed me that John Byfield had sent him to pick
> up Hogan.  I was shocked.  I thought we had been doing so much better.  In a
> panic, I frantically faxed the contract to my father’s lawyer and was told
> that I had no choice but to give the dog to the trainer.  I was devastated.
> I was just minutes away from leaving for the airport to fly home for the
> Christmas break.  By the time I arrived home minus my wonderful guide, my
> family and their lawyer had already contacted members of the GDF Board.
> Immediately my doctor sent information to them and John Beagel and Barry
> Hatten gave their opinions of my work with Hogan.  The board decided that
> John Byfield had acted unfairly by taking Hogan.  They agreed with my doctor
> that I was physically capable of working Hogan as long as he could slow down
> a bit and not pull so hard.  I got him back right after GDF opened up after
> New Years.  What should have been a great first Christmas with my new guide,
> turned out to be a horrible traumatic experience.
>
> Unfortunately, that wasn’t my only bad experience with John Byfield’s unfair
> actions.  When Hogan retired due to city stress a few years later, John
> Byfield again did the same thing in October 1979 after another graduate
> complained to him about my very young new dog, Bart’s behavior at a solo
> recital I had given the previous day.  As I was singing, Bart, a very
> playful young immature male golden, was lying at my feet and I was holding
> the leash.  Bart very quietly and sneakily slipped his somewhat loose chain
> collar and ran around the audience trying to play.  I immediately called him
> and after a bit more frantic running around he came back to me and I put his
> collar back on.  I kept a tighter hold on the leash and collar and Bart’s
> behavior and guiding were fine the rest of the day.  The next day, My
> accompanist, also, another GDF grad called to complain to John Byfield.  I
> suddenly get a call that someone was on their way to my apartment to pick up
> Bart.  I wasn’t given the chance to defend myself or Bart who was still so
> young and managed to slip out of that too loose collar.  All John Byfield
> cared about is how upset this other graduate was about what Bart had done
> and that it was my fault.  He said that it looked bad for GDF and it was
> obvious I should not have a guide dog.  I wasn’t given the chance to fight
> because the board wouldn’t listen this time, they just took the word and
> reacted to the pressure from of another grad.  We all know Stuff happens
> with new dogs and although I was also very embarrassed, I knew that it wasn’t
> the end of the world and no excuse to have my dog taken away.  This left me
> alone in a questionable neighborhood without my dog.  I was terrified to be
> walking alone with just a cane.  Two nights later after leaving the drug
> store with my medications, I was mugged by a group of teen boys who grabbed
> me saying, “now you don’t have that dog for protection so, we got you, give
> us your purse and bag of meds”.  I was so afraid of walking alone after that
> night that I had to stay with friends until I could get accepted to another
> guide dog school a few months later.
>
> After those traumatic experiences, I will never attend a school that will
> not give me unconditional ownership.  It has been many years since then but,
> the horror and trauma remain as clear today.  I still feel very vulnerable
> and I’m still afraid to walk alone without a dog by my side.  I’m still very
> worried if I need to ask for a trainer to help with any issues even though I
> own the dog.  Those two experiences left me with the constant fear of
> suddenly without reason having my dog taken away.  I realize it will not
> happen due to my ownership but the knot of fear is always there.
>
> .  Another story shows how my having complete ownership allowed me to keep
> my dog.  In February 2002, a serious back injury from afall on the ice along
> with a severe relapse of multiple sclerosis, I ended up having to use a
> manual wheelchair.  At that time, I was working Cinnamon, a golden from
> Leader Dogs.  With no other way to get Cinnamon out, get myself to medical
> appointments and do shopping and other errands, I taught Cinnamon to guide
> me in the wheelchair.  When Leader Dogs found out over a year later, they
> disagreed with her guiding me in the wheelchair.  Despite the evaluation by
> two well-known wheelchair guide dog trainers,  who said we were an excellent
> very well-trained safe wheelchair guide team, leader still refused to
> acknowledge it could be done.  Due to the contract I had signed, I owned
> Cinnamon but, Leader Dogs still owned the harness and could ask for it back
> at any time.  So, I gave them the harness, collar, tags leashes and ID card
> which all said Leader Dogs on them.  I got a harness for Cinnamon and
> continued to work her until her retirement many years later.  With Cinnamon’s
> help, I gradually got back the strength and stamina to walk again and when
> she finally retired in 2008 I was able to train with Tara, my golden who
> walked slow and helped with balance.
>
> As you can see, I’ve lived through the negatives of not having ownership and
> the positives of having it.  I hope my stories will help our fight for
> complete and unconditional ownership.
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
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